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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN B. BBAGUE, lOF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SPONGE-CUP.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 52,667, dated February 20, 1866.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, STEPHEN B. BEAGUE, ot' the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Desk Sponge-Cups; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear. and exact description of same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of' this specification, in which- Figure I is a plan View of my improved sponge-cup. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section ot' same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

The object ot' my invention is to facilitate the proper moistening of the sponge used by bankers and others for the purpose of moistening the finger ends forcounting paper money or for moistening envelopes or stamps; and to this end it consists in so attaching the sponge by a spring to the interior of a water-cup of suitable depth that the said sponge may be pressed down into the water by the tingers when it is required to be moistened, but that when it is relieved ot' the pressure oi' the tingers it will be raised up by the spring out of the water to a position in the mouth of the vessel Where the superiuous water will drain from it and leave it in a proper state of moisture for use, thereby dispensing with the removal of the sponge from the cup for the purpose of wetting it, and obviating the necessity of squeezing itto remove the superfluous moisture.

ln order that others may make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

A is a water-tight cylindrical vessel of suitableproportions, constructed of tin-plate or other sheet metal, glass, or any other suitable material, having a iiat bottom, a', with inclined or conical ange a2, answering as a base, and

at the top the rim a3 is made somewhat ilarin g in an upward and outward direction, forming aflan ge similar to the base a2.

Within the cup or vessel Ais a metallic spiral spring, B, of such a diameter as will freely move up or down in the vessel A. The lower end of the spring rests against the bottom a', and may be prevented from iiying out or being misplaced by the small clips or projections b b, extending over the spring at its lowest coil in one or more places of its circumference.

The upper end ofthe spring B is securely ate tached to a sponge, C, and supports the sponge with its upper surface about on a level with the upper part ofthe vessel A or its lian ge a3.

The cup or vessel A is intended, when in use, to be about a half or a third iilled with water, (Fig. 2,) and when the sponge is required to be inoistened it is pressed downward into the water and then allowed to resume its former po-A sition, when all water in excess of that which is required to merely moisten the sponge sufficiently for its required purpose drains or drips off from the sponge back to the bottom of the vessel. The sponge may in this manner be doused 7 whenever required, and there is never a surplus of water in it, and whenever the sponge becomes soiled or dirty from frequent usage it may be cleansed by simply dipping it into the water one or more times, when the dirt will be entirely washed away.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the sponge C, the spring' B, and the cup A, substantially at herein specilied.

STEPHEN B. BBAGUE.

Witnesses:

A. LE CLERC, L. HOLMES, Jr. 

